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tv   The Daily Rundown  MSNBC  April 29, 2014 6:00am-7:01am PDT

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it was a really important event. their best crowd ever. >> great work. >> donald sterling has eclipsed a great nba playoff series, sadly. >> i learned that paula deen when she goes on her west coast swing is taking mr. sterling with her. >> and will have as their emcee cliven bundy. >> i think he has box seats at the clippers games, courtside. >> i wondered why he always got such good seats there. if it's way too early, it's "morning joe." stick around, up next, "the daily rundown." and we begin with breaking news out of georgia right now where we just learned that the suspect in a shooting this morning at a fedex facility is dead. the shooting happened around 5:45 this morning in kennesaw, georgia. at least six people were shot, one is in critical condition and is currently in surgery.
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local reports say more victims could be on the way to the hospital. hundreds of police remain on the scene. the suspect was initially at large, but cobb county police told the "atlanta journal constitution" just moments ago that the suspect is dead. quote, our primary concern is the safety and well-being of our team members, first responders and others affected the fedex is cooperating with authorities, and of course msnbc will bring you any updates as we get them and we will continue to follow this breaking news story throughout the morning and afternoon. i am kristen welker and this is "the daily rundown." we want to turn now to more developing news this morning. after a second day of deadly tornados devastates the south, there are now 28 people dead after at least 106 reported tornados. at least seven people were killed in mississippi, two in alabama and two more in tennessee. now, that follows the deaths of 16 people after sunday's outbreak. the national weather service has not confirmed that these are
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tornados, but one storm chaser was streaming video online when he captured this storm cell hovering over columbus, mississippi. take a look at the video. >> you're next in line. if you're watching this, please western pickens county take this storm seriously now. >> now, the storms did significant damage to this elementary school in lincoln county, tennessee. at least 16 counties in mississippi are reporting tornado damage this morning, and rescue crews are trying to sift through the rubble to find survivors. but this might be some of the worst damage. winston county hospital in louisville, mississippi, took a direct hit. the storm blew out windows and tossed cars around. pearl, mississippi, is a jackson suburb about an hour southwest of louisville and it was also hit hard by the storms. dylan dreyer joins us live from there with more. so dylan, what is the latest on the ground there that you're seeing, devastating damage it looks like. >> reporter: kristen, it certainly is devastating damage. i am here in highlands mobile
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home park. it's just about five miles away from jackson airport, which is where the national weather service for jackson is located. ironically they were the ones issuing the warnings around 5:30 last night local time for this particular storm. now, you can sift through all the rubble here and you are certainly going to see people coming back and trying to pick up the pieces of what was their home, what was this entire neighborhood. but we spoke with the mayor of pearl, and he said that they came through here, all the buildings have been cleared and all of the people that lived here heeded the warnings issued by the national weather service. he said if you go through some of the homes that weren't completely flipped on end, you can still see dinner on the stove. so people got the warnings and got out of town. amazingly enough there were no reported major serious injuries here. about three people had some minor injuries, some cuts and bruises, some scrapes, but really that's about it. but there's a lot of cleanup to do and people will be allowed later on today to start to pick
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up the pieces, which just kind of seems impossible at this point. kristen. >> incredible that no one is seriously injured, but i'm sure widespread devastation, that damage that you're showing dylan dreyer, thank you for that report. there's yet another threat of severe weather in the south this afternoon, so let's bring in nbc meteorologist bill karins. so, bill, just what are we expecting in the next 24 hours? >> i do not expect it to be as bad as yesterday afternoon, but regardless all it takes is one to hit a city and it will be worse than what we saw yesterday. as far as the number of tornados, we started on sunday, 36 tornados from nebraska, iowa, all the way down through arkansas. of course arkansas is where some of the strongest tornados have been in this entire outbreak. and then yesterday we saw 82 reports of tornados and they were really centered and clustered here. it was really rough here yesterday afternoon from mississippi, northern alabama. people were just ducking and covering multiple times from storm threats. so where do we go today with
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this? i almost forgot, this was one of the most impressive things i saw yesterday as far as pictures making their way on social media. this is a door that was found, the university of mississippi in starksville. this was picked up 20 miles away when it destroyed a house and dropped at the university. this was put up online by a professor just showing you the strength of those tornados. imagine that, a heavy door, 20 miles carried by these tornados. so today's risk, we have 76 million people at risk of severe weather. that does not mean all of those people have a risk of tornados. the tornado threat, unfortunately, once again, the same area as it was yesterday. we're really targeting mississippi, alabama, so from birmingham to tuscaloosa, through meridian, laurel and hattiesburg, the area in red is the greatest threat for tornados. we'll start at 2:00 or 3:00 this afternoon. tracking the peak of the storms right around the dinner hour and die off through the evening. once again i'm sure schools will get let out early in this area and we'll cover these storms for you all afternoon.
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>> all right, bill, thank you. we hope that folks there heed those warnings. we want to turn now to news overseas. more sanctions for russia today and more outrage from moscow. russia is condemning what it calls iron curtain sanctions. the u.s. has imposed on seven russian individuals and 17 companies with close personal ties to president vladimir putin. today the european union added 15 names to its own list of figures close to the kremlin. meanwhile the obama administration is defending itself against bipartisan criticism in congress that it's not doing more. treasury secretary jack lew spoke to nbc's andrea mitchell. here's what he had to say. >> sanctions are doing what sanctions can do. they're affecting the russian economy. obviously we've made clear that we're prepared to take more steps should we need to. one could say do everything all at once or one could say it do it step by step in a way that most likely will be effective. >> germany depends on russia for a third of its energy and would
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be key to applying more pressure. by the way, german chancellor angela merkel will meet with president obama at the white house later this week. on monday, russia's defense minister assured chuck hagel that russia will not invade ukraine. ukraine's acting president urged lawmakers today in kiev to quickly adopt a new constitution he says could preserve unity. militants continue to hold dozens of hostages, including seven military observers. on monday evening there were violent clashes in donetsk after the militia attacked demonstrators during a unity rally. jim maceda was at that rally and joins us live from donetsk. jim, you have been covering this from the beginning and it appears as though the violence, the tension continues to just escalate. is that a fair assessment? >> reporter: yeah, kristen, i
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would say that the fair assessment is that this region is always teetering on violence. it's on the edge of anarchy and it could go either way. you referred to the demonstration last night. we were there, as you said. it started out very peacefully in downtown donetsk. this was not a group of neo-nazis as all the russian state media have been reporting but rather ukrainians from all walks of life. we saw people -- mothers with children, grandparents out with their grandkids who gathered together, despite the known risks. remember, this had been announced that there would be provocateurs trying to break up the demonstration, but this silent majority, and if you will, it truly is a majority because according to all the polls, most people don't want to split off and join russia here. that majority came to express its opinion that ukraine should remain unified. some were pro-kiev but many were critical of the government in kiev. some were clearly anti-putin but
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also say in the same breath they felt their soul to be russian. they simply want ukraine to be united and peaceful. well, the march went forward two or 300 yards. out of nowhere, a couple dozen of these pro-russian rebels, some masked and wearing camouflage, most in civilian clothes seemed to be pouncing on anybody carrying a ukrainian flag. it was chaos for a good 10 or 15 minutes, a mix of fireworks being thrown back and forth, some smoke bombs. we saw a tear gas canister, at one point a stun grenade was thrown as well. throughout this melee, police often stood there. they were outnumbered. they outnumbered the rebels but couldn't or wouldn't control the situation. i didn't once see an attempt by police to suppress the pro-russians. a lot of police just scattered or watched. kristen. >> jim, there are still seven international monitors that are being held by a pro-russian militia. can you update us on that
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situation? has there been any progress toward their release? >> reporter: well, first, german officials said today that there had been no progress in the negotiations to release those seven ose monitors. they're being held as prisoners of war effectively. but the government this afternoon in kiev also said that they had come up now with a plan. it's in place and that should lead to the immediate release of these seven. now, pro-russian rebels have been saying that they wanted to see a prisoner swap between militants, pro-russia militants being held by kiev and the seven ose individuals. what the government is saying now would suggest that they could be very close to that deal. kristen, back to you. >> all right, jim maceda, thank you for tracking all of that for us. we appreciate it. and up next, maybe, just maybe there's still a chance to pass some sort of immigration reform this year. we've got a reality check next.
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plus, basketball backlash. will the nba suspend or even expel los angeles clippers owner don sterling after those racially charged remarks he allegedly made? that's ahead. but first, a look at today's planner. vice president biden will headline an administration event about stopping sexual assault, and president obama heads home from his overseas trip, and that means chuck todd is heading home as well. he'll be back tomorrow. we'll have more of "the daily rundown" coming up after a quick break. stay with us. re where st people probably know that geico could save them money on car insurance, right? you see the thing is geico, well, could help them save on boat insurance too. hey! okay...i'm ready to come in now. hello? i'm trying my best. seriously, i'm...i'm serious. request to come ashore. geico. saving people money on more than just car insurance. this is mike. his long race day starts with back pain...
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and we are back now with an update on that breaking news just outside of atlanta in kennesaw, georgia, where a shooting broke out at a fedex facility earlier this morning. our nbc atlanta affiliate is reporting that the gunman was an employee who got into the facility and opened fire.
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witnesses say the gunman was a baggage handler. the gunman reportedly shot a security guard. in all, at least six people were hurt, one of them critically. our affiliate reports the gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a loading dock area. we will continue to monitor this story, but again, six people injured outside of atlanta at this shooting at the fedex facility there. we'll bring you the very latest as we get it. turning back now to politics, congress is back in washington this morning after a two-week break. at this hour it is possible that house speaker john boehner is getting a real earful from conservatives behind closed doors in a republican conference meeting n ohio last week boehner said publicly what he said privately before, he's fed up with house republicans who are balking at immigration reform. >> here's the attitude. oh, don't make me do this. oh, this is too hard. >> well, boehner is not the only member of leadership frustrated
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at the immigration impasse and holding out hope for a bill. washington congresswoman kathy mcmorris rogers, the fourth ranking republican in the house, told her hometown paper, quote, i believe there is a path that we get a bill on the floor by august. we're going to have to push that this is a legal status, not amnesty. republican congressman mario deas bellart, a key player negotiations told roll call i think we finally have the policy right. it is as close as we have ever been. it is still a big, big heavy lift. i think we're going to get there. and yesterday a positive push from the other party as new york senator chuck schumer predicted immigration reform will be passed this summer, but immigration is not on the house republican agenda for the spring. meanwhile there's a wild card in the debate. the possibility that president obama under pressure from supporters uses executive action to scale back deportations. even 7,000 miles away at a naturalization ceremony last week in korea, the
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president was pitching immigration reform. >> it's central to who we are, it's part of our dna. it's part of our creed. that means moving forward we have to pass common sense immigration reform. >> joining me now, mark murray, maria teresa kumar and alfonso aguilar. thanks all for being here. mosc mark, i want to start with you. just set the political landscape right now as it relates to immigration. what do you make of house speaker john boehner's comments? does it suggest that there could be a renewed push for immigration in the house? >> all of those things that you just mentioned does suggest that maybe there is a little bit of a pulse to get immigration reform done, as the clock is ticking on this particular congress, and right before the midterm season. but kristen, there are some structural things, particularly
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coming from the republican party that cast a little doubt on that. one, most house republicans have constituents where there are very small numbers of latino constituents. there's no incentive to get immigration reform done then. then you look at the fact that we are in the midst of an election season right now and this is an issue that divides the republican party. the republican party wants to talk about issues that unite them, not divide them. then there's a sense that the republicans don't trust the president to enforce, particularly when it comes to border enforcement. chuck schumer has mentioned this, let's have all the border mechanisms after 2017 but you end up having all those things and that's why republicans aren't budging just yet. >> maria, you have bellart saying we have found the key, we're going to have a compromise bill. are you optimistic something will get done? >> they're waiting for the majority of the republican primaries. since last july we've been hearing boehner do this whisper campaign that he was going to be ready during the summer of this
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year. so in part it basically inoculates a lot of republicans that would have extreme tea party challengers on the right. so allowing them to go ahead and say let's do something now after the primaries, allows them to put something on the house floor but it doesn't have to reflect the senate. so when they actually go into the midterm elections, they can say we did something on immigration reform. is it what the majority of advocates and the majority of folks want? probably not. but it will be a piecemeal approach and at least allow them to check that box to say we did something. >> alphonso, maria says he anticipates a piecemeal approach. what do you think and what do you make of the comments house speaker john boehner made? >> well, to legislate we need legislators talking to each other and that's not happening. look, i support speaker boehner. i would like congress to deal with immigration reform this year. but the reality is that despite what the speaker is saying publicly, in public speeches,
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he's not talking to his delegation, specifically to conservative members. and there are many conservative members, even conservative members with ties to the tea party that want to do something, but they haven't really heard from leadership. that conversation is not happening. i wouldn't let democrats off the hook either. i don't see any constructive conversations happening between republicans and democrats. i think there are many democrats who are still -- the majority in the house who are still insisting on the senate bill. there's only a few, led by luis gutierrez, who are willing to have a conversation with republicans. right now it's all disjointed. so if you don't have that conversation, that discussion to build consensus, nothing is going to happen and you can wait until june, you can wait for the primaries to be over, but if you haven't had those conversations, it doesn't matter if you have a great set of principles, and i think the principles that the speaker outlined are great, but those conversations are not happening and that's the problem right now. >> maria, let me turn to you.
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how much pressure is president obama getting right now from his constituents to get something done, as you know he has directed jay johnson to look at the deportation policy and to see if it can't be done more humanely. >> that's the thing. so one of the biggest talking points right now coming out of the republican party is saying we can't trust the president to enforce the laws. he's been the deporter in chief, sadly, for a lot of families and he's been the one that's deported more families -- separated more families under his presidency than anyone. we're talking to a tune of almost two million people. what he's asking is jay johnson to look at it, to look at the legislation, to look at the way we manage deportations and say, you know what, let's actually look at folks that are actual criminal offenders, number one. but let's also put other things in place such as let's actually have people have bond hearings so when they actually go before a judiciary judge they can put up a bond instead of staying -- languishing in a detention center. most often folks don't realize folks in a detention center languish three to nine months.
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so that's not a speedy trial for anyone. but finally some things that alfonso said, i think a lot of the democrats feel like their hands are tied but there's plenty of republicans that also feel their hands are tied. roughly 28 republicans are saying this is something that's based on a moral issue, but those individuals have safe seats. so what the argument really is, it's a little hard one -- it's a hard one to deconstruct because it's a matter of is there really a will among the republicans to put something forward. >> mark, gop senators wrote a letter to president obama urging him not to act unilaterally. how does it change the calculation if hhs secretary jay johnson comes forward and we have the graphic right here. it says according to reports, the changes under consideration would represent a near complete abandonment of basic immigration enforce maentd discard the rule of law and the notion mat united states has enforceable borders. again, this is from a group of gop senators to president obama. how does it change the equation if jay johnson does come forward
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and decrease deportations. >> i'm not sure it changes the equation all that much. the warning republicans are saying is if you go ahead and change this deportation policy, their chances of getting anything done on immigration come 2015, 2016, maybe when republicans are in charge of the senate are completely dead. but then democrats counter, well, that's no different than the situation right now and we actually need to be able to do something. when we talk about the window to getting immigration reform done, don't forget come 2015, in the midst of a presidential primary season there's a lot of disincentive for republicans to act on immigration reform. you'll hear every presidential candidate as we've seen in the past accusing any time of immigration reform of being pro-amnesty and that kind of politics i think deincentivizes the chance of getting something done 2015 or 2016. >> alfonso, let me bring you back into the conversation. after the 2012 election when we saw president obama win the latino vote by such a wide
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margin, a lot of people thought this was the moment for immigration reform. has the moment now passed, particularly in light of what mark just said? >> well, i agree with what mark says. you know, republicans right now don't see a need to deal with immigration. immigration is not going to be a huge issue in the midterms. however, the positive news is the consensus among house republicans is let's do it next year and the incentive is, and they understand this, if they don't deal with immigration reform before 2016, it doesn't matter who the republican candidate is, the candidate is going to be handicapped. and i think the debate in the primaries over immigration will be very different from what we heard in 2012. they understand those comments about self deportation and other negative comments over immigration really antagonize hispanic voters. so really right now they feel that it's better to wait till next year to get something done.
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again, i'd rather do it this year, but right now the political circumstances are not there and the conversations are not happening to make this happen of the and if the president were to issue an additional administrative order, i think that would really antagonize republicans and that would lower the chances of getting immigration reform this year and even next year. >> all right, alfonso aguilar, mark murray and maria teresa kumar, thank you so much for that great conversation. we appreciate it. just ahead, after being indicted, just how grim are congressman grimm's re-election prospects? first today's trivia question. how many u.s. presidents were worn in the great state of new jersey? the first person to tweet the correct answer gets the shoutout. the answer and much more coming up on "the daily rundown." stay with us. when la quinta.com sends sales rep steve hatfield the ready for you alert, the second his room is ready. you know what he brings?
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new york republican congressman michael grimm has stepped down from the financial services committee but vows to stay in his seat despite the 20-count federal indictment against him. the charges stem from his ownership of a health food restaurant in manhattan. he's accused of hiding more than a million dollars in sales and wages and he's calling the indictment a witch hunt. >> since day one, the press has been fed all types of innuendos and accusations to support, and let me very clear, a political witch hunt. this political witch hunt was designed to do a couple of things, but first and foremost, assassinate my character and remove me from office. >> strong show of defiance there. nbc news contributing correspondent jonathan dienst has been working this story. thanks for joining me. what is the very latest and how strong is the case against the congressman? >> prosecutors believe they have a very strong case. he's a former marine and he
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vowed he's not abandoning his post. he's getting back to work and will seek re-election. democrats are hopeful they can pick off his seat. remember the allegations are that congressman grimm is a big tax cheat. over a million dollar tax broad. the fbi says cash was hidden from the irs to line his own pockets. the charges stem from that restaurant business he had on manhattan's upper east side before he got elected. in addition to tax fraud and wire fraud allegations, prosecutors say grimm also lied under oath in a civil case after he was elected. in that civil case some of his undocumented restaurant workers sued him, claiming grimm did not even pay them the minimum wage. grimm denies all the charges. his lawyer says the congressman wants a speedy trial, perhaps by the summer so he can try to get this case out of the way before the election. but investigators again say they have a strong case. former workers, managers, all these tax records and business records all expected to be part of this trial. suggesting that he was cooking
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the books at that restaurant. prosecutors added grimm remains under federal criminal investigation into questionable fund-raising practices, but so far the only charges filed so far relate to tax fraud allegations from that old restaurant business. back to you. >> all right, thank you for that reporting. as always, we appreciate it. well, in washington today the u.s. supreme court will take up two cases on the issue of privacy in the digital age. the question is whether police can look through the cell phones of individuals they arrest without getting a warrant first. the court's decision could affect the more than 90% of american adults that own a cell phone and almost 60% that own smartphones. in both cases, criminal defendants sought to have evidence taken from their cell phones thrown out on the grounds that the police did not get a warrant first. lower courts are split on the issue. nbc's justice correspondent pete williams is live for us now from the supreme court. so, pete, as i understand it, the question facing the court is
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whether police can search cell phones, whether that's a part of the information that they would search under -- without a warrant or whether that information is in a different category. is that accurate? >> that's right. and the obama administration and several police departments say that the law is clear here that the police have really unbridled authority to search the personal possessions of anyone they arrest, wallets, briefcases, purses, business papers, and that should cover cell phones. on the other side the lawyers for these two defendants, and also other civil libertarians are saying, no, police have authority to search a phone for just two reasons. one, to make sure that evidence isn't destroyed and secondly for officer safety. they say when a policeman takes a cell phone, neither of those interests are still in play so they should have to get a search warrant. but the police say that cell phones these days are instruments of crime. they're used to arrange drug deals. gang members text each other by
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cell phone and sometimes they need to get those cell phones quickly to find out what they're dealing with, kristen. >> pete, looking forward if you could, what might the implications of this decision be for privacy rights and search and seizure moving forward? >> reporter: well, if the supreme court says here that you do have to get a search warrant in most routine cases to look at a cell phone, then that might also apply to other electronic devices that people have when they're arrested. laptop computers, personal digital assistants. this is really an area where the supreme court has never gone, so the decision in this case will be an important one in the digital age, kristen. >> all right. we are anticipating a decision in june. pete, thank you so much, as always. up next, nba players, owners and fans are giving the league the full court press to oust los angeles clippers owner, donald sterling. that's coming up next on "the daily rundown." the conditions in new york state are great for business.
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l.a. clippers owner donald sterling has been at the helm of his team longer than any other owner in the nba. now his 33-year run may be in serious jeopardy. at 2:00 p.m. eastern just a few hours from now, nba commissioner adam silver will announce his decision on how to address racist remarks purportedly made by sterling, remarks that have been condemned from every corner of the sports world, that includes his own team and its coach action doc rivers, who spoke on behalf of his players on monday. take a listen. >> they didn't sign on for this but they're part of this and they're jipt at this. but they're going to hang in there and so are we, i can tell you that as a group and as a team. >> silver is under extraordinary pressure to come down hard on sterling. last night sacramento mayor and former nba all-star kevin johnson, who's working on behalf of the league's players association wrote, quote, sterling should be suspended indefinitely, banned from games, slapped with the maximum fine possible and forced to extract
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himself from basketball operations. hall of famer michael jordan, owner of the charlotte bobcats and the only principal minority owner in the league said he was disgusted that a fellow team owner could hold such sickening and offensive views. owners like jordan may ultimately have to approve silver's punishment, particularly if silver seeks to go beyond a fine and suspension. the team is feeling the pinch from its sponsors. more than a dozen have either cut ties with the team or are in the process of doing so. all of this comes at the worst possible time for the nba, right in the midst of the playoffs. on monday night, the miami heat mimicked the clippers silent protest by hiding their team logo during warpups. members of the rockets and trailblazers wore black socks. the clippers will play game five of their series tonight. hall of famer magic johnson, who was part of the picture that set off the alleged racist remarks said the players have to rise above the controversy at least for now.
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>> if nothing happens, then you can boycott in the off-season, and not just the clippers, the whole league has to, because if he's not thrown out, you've got to do something. >> michael mccann is founding director of the sports and enter at the same time law institute at the university of new hampshire and a legal analyst for "sports illustrated" and jason reed is a sports columnist for "the washington post" who covered the clipper as a beat writer. thanks to both of you for being here. jason, i want to start with you because you have covered the clippers extensively and you know sterling. tell me about him, both personally, because you've interviewed him, but also his reputation before this controversy. >> well, you know, you knew that there were things that were said when you were around the team about donald sterling's views on things. and when you would talk to people they would say -- >> that he had racist views on things. >> that he had racist views on things. people would tell you that. but when you were in his presence in personal settings, i've had dinner with him, he's
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had my wife to dinner, us as a couple. when our first child was born, the clippers sent something to the hospital as a gift. so, you know, a lot of times when you deal with people on a personal level and you hear things and you hear things that are attributed to them there's a disconnect. clearly when i covered the team, it was clear that this is -- this is -- there's something going on here. >> there was an issue from the beginning. michael, i want to turn to you now and the nba commissioner's possible options in handling this. we have a graphic of what could possibly happen. he could be fined, he's worth nearly $2 billion, by the way. he could be suspended. he could also be forced out. it doesn't appear as though that is a likely possibility. tell me why and what you anticipate is going to happen at this point. >> sure. so i would say i anticipate that he'll be suspended indefinitely and that the commissioner will say that a further penalty will be issued or considered sometime after the season ends. that's my expectation.
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i don't think we're going to see a final penalty at 2:00 p.m. today during the press conference. we might. but my expectation is that the commissioner will say this is an ongoing investigation. however, there's enough evidence to suspend him for the rest of this season. in terms of the legal issues involved of forcing him to sell, that's a tricky area because the constitution has vague language about what is required to force an owner to forfeit a team essentially. and typically the understanding has been that it's about financial issues. it's not about personal conduct, it's not about even racism. and if the nba attempted to force him to sell, either through a vote or through some other mechanism, he would likely bring a lawsuit. and the area of law that's implicated is antitrust law. antitrust law in this context would be the nba and its teams have joined hands to force him to sell his asset at below market value, at least that's what he would argue. under antitrust law there's
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troub triple damages. so the real issue for the nba is they don't want a lawsuit. if there's a lawsuit, donald sterling isn't going away. he'll be sticking around for a while. the league wants him to exit for reasons that jason noted earlier. probably the easiest way to do that is to suspend him and work with him on selling the team and having him have some final say in that sale. >> and, jason, i want to turn back to you. the mayor of sacramento has called this a defining moment for the nba. what are the broader implications for the nba moving forward, and does this league need to do some soul searching? >> well, you know, donald sterling was allowed to stay in his position when owners and players knew for years that these were his views on things, so it's definitely a key moment for the league, it's a key moment for adam silver, the new commissioner, because he's got to get this right. obviously there are legal -- there are legal problems with just getting him out but that has to be the end game for this
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league to move forward and heal. >> michael, let me have you weigh in on that. how much pressure right now is there on adam silver to get this right? >> a tremendous amount of pressure. adam silver has said that his number one priority was the nba age limit, which now seems like a trivial issue compared to the importance of this particular issue. so this is a major event early on in his administration. i think so far he has done an excellent job in my view. he said at the get-go, this is a process. i want to make sure things are done correctly. i want to make sure that my fiduciary duties as commissioner to the owners in this league, including one that's now very unpopular, donald sterling, are met. i think he's going about it the right way. i understand there's a lot of pressure on him to be decisive, to come out swiftly, but i think taking the process that he's taken to me is the wise move because the last thing the nba wants to do is to face litigation down the line. and donald sterling is a lawyer. donald sterling has been sued before, partly over issues of
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race. he is not someone who likely will go away quietly if he believes that there's any kind of legal grievance that he can bring up. i think silver is smart to go about this in a way that doesn't increase the likelihood of litigation. >> jason reed, michael mccann, thank you so much for your insights. we appreciate it. and a programming reminder, msnbc will have live coverage of the nba news conference at 2:00 p.m. eastern, just a few hours from now. as michael just said, we anticipate that some type of sanctions will be announced against donald sterling. we will keep you up to date on all of that throughout the afternoon. and we're talking chris christie's white house hopes ahead, but first our tdr 50 soup of the day. at the state house cafe at the capital building in trenton, it's beef pot pie soup. didn't know you could do a pot pie in a soup. that sounds good, though. we'll be right back with more. get all your favorites all day, everyday. olive garden's signature favorites, just $10 including creamy fettuccine alfredo, and our classic lasagna.
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secretary of state john kerry says he wishes he could rewind the tape of remarks he made in which he said israel risked becoming a, quote, apartheid state. he made the comments in a closed door meeting as a way to frame a possible outcome for israel if there's no two-state solution. the secretary was criticized for the comments. some conservatives, like senator ted cruz, even called for him to resign. kerry fired back in a statement saying, quote, i will not allow my commitment to israel to be questioned by anyone. i do not believe that israel is an apartheid state or that it intends to become one. anyone who knows anything about me knows that without -- knows that without a shred of doubt. trivia time now, grover cleveland was the only u.s. president born in new jersey and woodrow wilson was living in new jersey when he was elected president. but he was born in virginia. so we want to say congratulations to today's winner, returning champion, mitchell rivard.
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back to the quiz, and new jersey has not sent anyone to the white house since the days of woodrow wilson. six months ago, it looked like chris kr chris christie might be the guy to break the streak, but the controversy over the george washington bridge may have doused his presidential inspirations somewhat, but they have not been extinguished altogether. last year, a speech of christie said that his brand of politics is exactly what is missing in washington. >> maybe the folks in washington, d.c. should tune into the tvs right now and see how it is done. you see, listen, we are in new jersey, and we still fight. and we still yell, but when we fight, we fight for those things that really matter in people's lives. >> and but even as he made that speech, the seeds for the scandal known for bridgegate had
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been sewn. the governor's straight talking image took a hit, and he pushed back against the idea that his future plans had been derailed. >> if you don't have baggage, they will create the baggage for you, and that is politics in america today, and that is the way it goes. and in the end, people don't judge you on that kind of stuff. people look into your eyes and they try to decide what is in here. and that is how they vote. they vote for what they believe is in your heart. >> over the last few months, the governor and his political team have been quietly trying to weather the storm, and remember in 2012, christie campaign ed fr romney in places like iowa and new hampshire, and despite the bridgegate, he resisted the call s to step dun as head of the governor's association, and resisted ties to the top gop contributors, and he was among the 2016 hopefuls that court canned sheldon aidleston and other jewish donors last month. and this month, christie was
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tied with jeb bush among the top gop presidential primaries, so the bottom line is not to write his political obituary yet. matt katz has been following him and happy to have you here with us. how effective has the effort been for governor christie, and has he stopped the bleeding so to speak? >> well, the first thing they did was to start this internal review and hire the lawyers attacat taxpayer's expense. and the five key figures in the whole scandal were not interviewed or spoken to anyone public publicly about this, and the first thing first is that christie has a lot of problems with this bridgegate situation. multiple investigations, and his spokesman and the aide are
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testify testifying publicly before the legislature in the next couple of weeks, and this is a big cloud hanging over him, however, politically in terms of the national scene, he is not in bad shape. like you said, he's still at the top of the field of the republican contenders, and he is still has the connections with the gop establish mementment. he still talks to the guys, and he still has an apparatus that he had several months ago to go to forge a national campaign. he lost a key figure, bill st steppian who would have probably been the campaign manager who got caught up in this mess, in the scandal, and christie had to force him out, but other than that, he is the chairman of the republican governor's association, and traveling tomorrow to florida, and then in new hampshire, and south carolina, and iowa, and going to the states that the republican hopefuls would want to go to, and raising a ton of money for the republicans, and making
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connection s wi connections with the republicans on the ground, and he is still has a way of speaking that appeals to people. and so, politically, she is not in that bad of shape. >> all right. matt katz thank you for the reporting and the insights this morning, we appreciate it. that is it for this edition of the "daily rundown, and coming up, chris jansing has more on the nba controversy, and what the clippers should do tonight at the game. stay tuned, everyone. chuck will be back tomorrow. so that was our first task, was getting him to wellness. without angie's list, i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. from contractors and doctors to dog sitters and landscapers, you can find it all on angie's list. we found riley at the shelter, and found everything he needed at angie's list. join today at angieslist.com
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there was a boy who traveled to a faraway place where villages floated on water and castles were houses dragons lurked giants stood tall and the good queen showed the boy it could all be real avo: whatever you can imagine, all in one place expedia, find yours the pressure is building. what will the nba do about owner donald sterling. there is an announcement in new york in a few short hours an fans will be watching as the clippers take the court in l.a., and the first home game since the race scandal broke. >> immigration, minimum wage, and obamacare, and oh, my, congress is back. speaker boehner is set to meet the press in a few moment, and
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they are scheduled for a short legislation session before campaigning begins. and michael grimm promises not the quit even though he was caught in a scandal. does the gop have a problem on their hands? and we begin with a weather system right now that experts say is putting 75 million at risk for severe weather, tornado tornadoes, winds and hail and taking lives and threatening more of the same in the southeast, and now we are moving into the third day of this weather trouble. since sunday, 28 people have died, 106 tornadoes have been reported and just over the last 48 hours. check out this video that storm chasers shot as they were heading into one of monday's tornadoes that slammed into columbus, mississippi. in limestone county, alabama, check out the trailer park or what was a trailer park, and now it looks like piles of splintered